When you open File Explorer in Windows 10, it defaults to a new Quick Access view that shows your most frequently accessed folders and recently viewed files. I love it, personally, but if you’d rather File Explorer defaulted to the “This PC” view found in Windows 8, here’s how.

This is wonderful. If you’ve got pending updates that require you to reboot your PC,

Windows 10 will allow you to schedule a specific time for it to do so.

Open the Settings option in the Start menu, then head to Updates and Recovery >

Windows Update. If you have an update pending, you’ll see a screen which lets you schedule your reboot after you select the “Select a restart time” radio button. Even better, you can dive into the Advanced options and link and ask Windows to notify you to schedule a reboot whenever updates are ready to rock.

Command Prompt tools

Windows 10 packs a slew of nifty new command line features, including the ability to copy and paste inside the command prompt with Crtl + C and Crtl + V.

To activate the goodies, open the command prompt. Right‐click its title bar, then select

Properties. You can find and enable the new features under the “Edit Options” section of the Options tab

Record a video of an app

Windows 10’s new Game DVR function is supposed to be used for recording video evidence of your most glorious gaming moments, but it’ll actually let you create videos of any open app or desktop software (though not OS‐level areas like File Explorer or the desktop).

To summon it, simply press Windows key + G. A prompt will ask you if you want to open the Game bar. Lie your butt off and click the “Yes, this is a game box” and various options will appear in a floating bar. Simply click the circular Record button to capture a video. You can find your saved videos in the Game DVR section of the Xbox app, or inside your user folder under Video > Captures.

Get rid of the old stuff

When you upgrade to Windows 10 over an existing Windows 7 or 8 installation, it keeps a copy of your old operating system around in a folder dubbed Windows.old just case you need to revert back for any reason. If you know you’re never going back you can delete that folder to reclaim the lost gigabytes—but it’s not as simple as right‐clicking on it and selecting Delete.

Search for “Disk Cleanup“. Click the shortcut, select your primary hard drive (if you have multiple installed), and in the window that appears, click “Clean up system files.” After

Windows thinks for a second, check the “Previous Windows installations” box in the list, then click OK and confirm you want to delete the files.

Manage your notifications

System‐wide notifications were a highlight feature for Windows Store apps in Windows 8, and Windows 10’s new Action Center lets you actually manage them, making notifications useful rather than one‐off shouts into the wind.

You might not want every Windows Store app you install barking at you all the time, however, or maybe you don’t want to see any notifications while you’re in presentation mode. To tinker with you your notification settings, head to Start menu > Settings > Systems > Notifications and actions. Individual Windows Store apps tend to have more granular notification options in the Settings menus inside the apps themselves.

Disable W‐Fi Sense

WiFi Sense will automatically connect you to detected crowdsourced WiFi networks, acquire network information and provide “additional info” to networks that require it (it’s not clear exactly what constitutes additional info), and can be used to automatically share your WiFi password with your contacts on Facebook, Skype, and Outlook.

That last feature is the potentially controversial one. WiFi Sense is enabled by default in Build 10240 of Windows 10; if you choose “Express Settings,” Microsoft enables the option and allows your device to acquire WiFi passwords from friends and shares your password with the same group of people. If you choose to leave the function enabled (or turn it on manually, as shown below), it will request permission to connect to Outlook, Skype, and Facebook on your behalf. Other users on your friends list who also run Windows 10 will have their contact information shared with you as well, assuming they also enable the feature.

Keyboard shortcuts

Here are some keyboard shortcuts you may want to be aware of — ones that will really help your daily workflow:

Windows Key‐Tab (Task View)

Windows Key‐Right‐Up (Moves app to top right quadrant)

Windows Key‐Ctrl‐Left or Right (virtual desktop)

Windows Key‐Ctrl‐D (new virtual desktop)

Windows Key‐Ctrl‐C (Cortana listening)

Windows Key‐S (Daily Glance for weather, news, sports)

Windows Key‐Ctrl‐F4 (closes virtual desktop)

Windows Key‐Up and Down (snap apps to top or bottom of screen or maximizes)

Step one: If you do not have a DVD drive, download the appropriate Windows 7 Recovery Disc image from Here. You will need a torrent client for this step, such as µTorrent. Alternatively, if you have a DVD drive, you can use an existing Windows 7 Installation DVD or a Windows 7 Recovery Disc when at step seven.

Using a Windows 7 Installation DVD at step seven will also allow you to install Windows 7 via USB, not just recover a damaged system; very useful if you have a netbook!

Step two: Open a command prompt with administrative rights. To do this, click Start > All Programs > Accessories and then right click Command Prompt, followed by clicking Run as administrator.Step three: After accepting any UAC verification questions, you should now be at the command prompt. Make sure your USB flash drive is plugged in and then type DiskPart, followed by pressing Enter.

Step four: Type List Disk and then press Enter. Determine which disk number corresponds to your USB flash drive. In the following scenario, Disk 1 corresponds to our USB drive since we know our USB drive has a capacity of 2-gigabytes.

Step five: Enter the following commands in order, changing the disk number to the disk number listed for your USB drive. Warning – the following commands will erase everything on your USB drive or the disk you select.

Select Disk 1

Clean

Create Partition Primary

Select Partition 1

Active

Format FS=NTFS

Step six: After DiskPart successfully formats the USB drive, which might take a few minutes, you will want to enter the following commands:

Assign, Exit

Step seven: You will now need to copy the contents of the ISO image you downloaded, or the contents of a DVD you wish use, to the USB flash drive. There should be two folders and a file in the ISO image that need to be copied. To extract the files contained within an ISO image, you will need to use a program such as WinRAR. You can download WinRAR from here.

Step eight: Now that the files are copied, we will want to make the USB drive bootable. To accomplish this however we will need to download a small file called bootsect.exe; it can be downloaded from here or here. The file can also be found in the boot directory of the Windows 7 Installation DVD. Once downloaded, place the bootsect.exe file in the root directory of your USB flash drive.

Step nine: Back at the command prompt, we will want to change the current directory to that of the USB drive and run the bootsect command. In our case this is drive E, so we will be using the following respective commands:

e:bootsect /nt60 e:

The bootsect command will update the target volume with a compatible bootcode. If all goes well, you should now have a bootable USB recovery drive; just remember to add the USB drive to the boot list in your system’s BIOS for it to work upon start up.

That’s it! It only needs to write about 140- to 160-megabytes to the disc, depending on whether your OS is 64-bit or 32-bit, and that should only take a minute. If you do not have a CD/DVD-R drive to create a recovery disc with, you can alternatively download the ISO image of the Windows 7 System Recovery Disc and use it to make a bootable USB flash drive.

Whether caused by a virus, a new operating system or by simple mistake, being faced with an “Operating System not found” or similar error during your computer system’s boot up can be a nerve rattling experience. Assuming you have Microsoft’s Window 7 installed however, do not fear, such a boot error can often be resolved in just a few simple steps.

First, check your BIOS and hardware

In many cases, having Windows 7 fail to boot may be as simple as having your BIOS set with an incorrect boot order sequence. It can be quite common if you have more than one hard drive installed in your computer and your BIOS gets reset. Usually you can access your BIOS seconds after your computer turns on by pressing the Delete button or by pressing a specific function key. Once in the BIOS, check to see that your system drive is listed appropriately in the boot order sequence; you may need to refer to your motherboard manual for help.

Another possible reason for Windows not being detected upon start up is a hardware issue. If your BIOS is unable to detect your system drive, check to make sure all the cables are plugged in properly. If your hard drive is making an odd noise, such as a clicking sound, your hard drive may be broken. Finally, it is possible that the hard drive is having data corruption issues, which has damaged important system data, such as the Master Boot Record (MBR). If you suspect a faulty hard drive, it may be a good idea to backup and scan your hard drive for errors from another computer and possibly consider buying a replacement. Trying to repair a boot problem on a damaged drive can possibly lead to even more data loss, so backup your data before attempting anything.

The MBR and other important boot data can also be damaged by trying to install an earlier version of Windows, such as Windows XP, alongside Windows 7 and by third-party programs, such as viruses. In the case of a virus, it is recommended that you run a virus scan of the drive before attempting any repairs as otherwise it could lead to more data loss. It is further possible to achieve the appearance of damaged boot data by having the wrong drive partition set to active, which can be the outcome of an overly curious Windows user with administrative permissions.

Fixing the MBR and other start up problems in Windows 7 is most quickly accomplished by using the Windows 7 Installation DVD. If you do not have a Windows 7 Installation DVD however, you can alternatively use a Windows 7 System Recovery Disc, which we will show you how to create further down in this article. If you do not yet have either a Windows 7 Installation DVD or a recovery disc, do yourself a big favor and make a recovery disc right away to avoid any unnecessary headaches down the road.

Fixing the Master Boot Record (MBR)

Step one: Turn your computer on, booting from either your Windows 7 Installation DVD or Windows 7 System Recovery Disc. Remember, you may need to change the boot order inside your BIOS to have the your DVD drive boot first.

Step two: After the installation or recovery disc loads, if prompted, select your language settings and then continue. If you are using the installation DVD, when prompted by the following screen select Repair your computer.

Step three: The computer will take a moment now to scan itself for any Windows installations, after which you will likely be given a choice to select which installation you wish to repair. Select the appropriate Windows installation from the list and then continue. If by chance a problem is detected in one of your Windows installations at this initial stage, the system may also ask you if it can try to repair the problem automatically. It is up to you if you wish to let the system try to repair itself, but otherwise just select No.

Step four: Once you have reached the System Recovery Options screen, as shown below, you will be faced with a list of choices that can aid you in repairing a damaged Windows 7 operating system. If you wish to try the Startup Repair option first, it is often successful in automatically fixing many different start up issues, but in this article we will be using the Command Prompt option to resolve our problems manually. So, click Command Prompt to continue.

Step five: Now sitting at the command prompt, enter the following command and then press enter:

bootrec.exe /FixMbr

If successful, you should be greeted with the message The operation completed successfully. That’s it! Your Master Boot Record has been repaired.

While the above command does fix the MBR, and sometimes that is enough, there still might be an error with the system partition’s boot sector and Boot Configuration Data (BCD). This might occur if you have tried to install another operating system alongside Windows 7, such as Windows XP. To write a new boot sector, try the following command:

bootrec.exe /FixBoot

If you are still faced with your Windows 7 installation not being detected during start up, or if you wish to include more than one operating system choice to your system’s boot list, you can try the following command to rebuild your BCD:

bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd

The above command will scan all your disks for other operating systems compatible with Windows 7 and allow you to add them to your system’s boot list. If this fails, you may need to backup the old BCD folder* and create a new one in its place with the following commands: bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

c:

cd boot

attrib bcd -s -h -r

ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old

bootrec /RebuildBcd

*Some users also find simply deleting the boot folder and retrying the above steps effective at resolving boot issues, but it is not recommended.

How to change active partitions

Upon purposely changing the active partition on my system drive, I was faced with a BOOTMGR is missing error during my system’s start up that prevent Windows from starting. It is a common mistake to make when playing with partitions on a system drive and it can be a headache to solve if not prepared. To change your active partition back using the Windows 7 recovery disc or Installation DVD, follow the steps below.

Step one: Follow steps one to four in the above guide. This should take you to the Command Prompt in the Windows Recovery Environment.

Step two: Type DiskPart and then press Enter.

Step three: Type List Disk now and then press Enter. This command will list all disks attached to your computer and assign them a disk number.

Step four: Type Select Disk x, where x is the number for the disk containing the partition you wish to make active. Press Enter.

Step five: Type List Partition and then press Enter. You will now be shown a list of the partitions on the selected disk. Determine which partition you wish to make active.Step six: Type Select Partition x, where x is the number of the partition you wish to make active.

Step seven: Now, just type Active and then press Enter. That should be it – the selected partition is now active.

Method 1: SHIFT + Restart
1. Hold down either SHIFT key while tapping or clicking on Restart, available from any Power icon.

Tip: Power icons are available in Windows 8 from either the Settings charm or from the logon/lock screen.

Note: This method does not seem to work with the on-screen keyboard. You’ll need to have a physical keyboard connected to your computer or device to open the Advanced Startup Options menu this way.
Wait while the Advanced Startup Options menu opens.

Method 2: PC Settings
1. Swipe from the right to open the charms bar.

Tip: If you have a keyboard, use WIN+I and then skip to Step 3.

2. Tap or click on Settings.

3. Tap or click on Change PC settings at the bottom of the charms bar.

4. Choose Update and recovery from the list of options on the left of the PC settings window.

Note: Prior to Windows 8.1, choose General instead and then skip to Step 6.

5. Choose Recovery.

6. Locate Advanced startup, at the bottom of the list of options on your right.

Tip: Don’t worry if you weren’t proactive and never got around to creating a Recovery Drive. If you have another computer with Windows 8, or a friend with Windows 8 on his or her computer, see How To Create a Windows 8 Recovery Drive for instructions.

2. Boot your computer from the flash drive.

3. On the Choose your keyboard layout screen, tap or click on US or whatever keyboard layout you’d like to use.

On some Windows 8 computers, for example, pressing F11 starts System Recovery.

Note: What this boot option is called is configurable by your hardware maker so the options I mentioned are just some that I’ve seen or heard. Whatever the name, it should be clear that what you’re about to do is boot to Windows 8’s advanced recovery features.

Important: The ability to boot directly to Advanced Startup Options isn’t one that’s available with a traditional BIOS. Your computer will need to support UEFI and then also be configured properly to boot directly to the ASO menu.

3. Wait for Advanced Startup Options to begin.
What About F8 and SHIFT+F8?
Neither F8 nor SHIFT+F8 are reliable options for booting to the Advanced Startup Options menu. See How To Start Windows 8 in Safe Mode for more on this.
If you need to access Advanced Startup Options, you can do so with any of the several methods listed above.
How To Exit Advanced Startup Options
Whenever you’re finished using the Advanced Startup Options menu, you can choose Continue to restart your computer, booting you back into Windows 8… assuming it’s working properly now.
Your other option is to choose Turn off your PC, which will do just that